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Do You See What I See?

My Top 3 Tools for Formative Assessment

Do You SeeWhat I See? My Top 3 Tools for Formative Assessment
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Cathy Yenca

Mathematics Teacher in a 1:1 iPad Classroom

Hill Country Middle School, Austin TX

Apple Distinguished Educator

Nearpod Author

ThingLink Expert Educator

Book Creator Ambassador

Website: mathycathy.com/blog
Twitter: @mathycathy

How can we access data that informs our instruction AND helps students think about THEIR OWN thinking?

What is ThatQuiz?

Simply put, ThatQuiz is a free, online quizzing app. ThatQuiz can be used spontaneously, or with password-protected logins. ThatQuiz generates quizzes randomly using chosen constraints, and can serve as a platform to create assessments. Quizzes that have been created and shared by other teachers are also available. Feeling ambitious? Use ThatQuiz to design your own assessments from scratch!

ThatQuiz may be the tool for you if you want:

  • Focused skill practice and remediation
  • A simple way to pre-test and post-test
  • Immediate feedback to inform instruction for teacher to take appropriate actions
  • Immediate feedback for students to reflect and revise
ThatQuiz.org
Don't let the lack of bells and whistles fool you.

How to Use ThatQuiz "On The Fly"

  • Ask students to choose a specific topic from ThatQuiz's front-page menu
  • Select desired constraints listed on the left side of the screen
  • View individual student screens for feedback
  • Students reflect on errors, reteaching, student tries again, fostering a "feedback loop"

ThatQuiz Best-Practices

  • Set up a free teacher account and password-protected student accounts
  • Generate and assign quizzes based on constraints... OR...
  • Browse quizzes designed by other teachers... OR...
  • Design your own quizzes from scratch
  • With password-protected logins, easily track student data all year!

Click on each student score for a quick summary.

To Get Started With ThatQuiz, Check Out These Posts:

What is Nearpod?

Nearpod is a mobile app or web app that enables content delivery and assessment. A NPP (Nearpod presentation) consists of slides and interactive tools, such as quizzes, polls, websites, videos, and the opportunity to draw. Data is provided in real-time to the teacher, and can be shared with students to promote metacognition and error analysis.

Nearpod may be the tool for you if you want:

  • Seamless delivery of instruction and assessment
  • Ability to instantly view and share student work samples anonymously
  • A variety of assessment tools, such as polls, quizzes, and more!
Nearpod Mobile App
Free app available in iTunes
Nearpod on the Web
Nearpod on the web can be used with a variety of devices!

Nearpod Best-Practices

  • Refresh an existing presentation. Export slides as images and upload to Nearpod.
  • Insert assessment tools often! Polls, quizzes and "draw" slides are great for math!
  • Launch student work anonymously to all students' screens. This is a great way to facilitate rich, mathematical discussions and authentic error analysis right away... not to mention, add a little motivation and positive peer pressure!
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Nearpod "Draw" feature:

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A great way to access instant work samples...

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... and adjust as needed!

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Nearpod's Live Quiz Results

Middle school students care about what their peers think!
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Time to Reteach

Check out our circle graph... time to reteach!
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Nearpod's Live Poll Results

Ask students to share an opinion and see the results in real-time.

Using Nearpod "On The Fly"... Sort Of

  • Create simple Nearpod "templates" that are not content-specific
  • Consider a template for assessing prior knowledge and/or reviewing homework
  • Use as often as needed!

Recipe for Successful, Reusable Nearpod "Templates"

  1. An intro slide with instructions for students
  2. A "draw" feature for students to work out a problem
  3. A "poll" to ask students how well they think they understand the current concept
  4. A closure or "thank you" slide
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Launch a Homework Review Template

Give students directions on Slide #1 of the Nearpod presentation.
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Review Students' Work

Virtually send every student to the "board" using the Nearpod "Draw" feature. Examine a work sample from each student in real-time.
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Authentic Anonymous Error Analysis

Launch select work samples, correct and incorrect, to all students' screens. Let the rich communication begin!
Nearpod Homework Review (Time-Lapse)
Nearpod Progress Monitoring - Free Multi-Touch Book
Using the Nearpod app and a "template model", instant formative assessment feedback has helped middle school students "know what they don't know". Cathy Yenca's One Best Thing guides teachers through the process of creating simple Nearpod templates.

To Get Started With Nearpod, Check Out These Posts:

What is Socrative?

Socrative is a free web-app and mobile app that serves as a student response system. Teachers can easily create assessments using short answer, true/false, or multiple choice questions.

Socrative may be the tool for you if you want:

  • A quick response on the fly from every student
  • Pacing options (student-paced versus teacher-paced)
  • Immediate, color-coded data reports

Note: Socrative generally allows up to 50 participants to simultaneously login and participate in a quiz.

Using Socrative "On the Fly"

  • Ask students a question verbally
  • Launch a "single question activity"
  • Display, analyze, and discuss responses from every student

Launching a Socrative Quiz

  • Create a Socrative multiple-choice quiz, indicating the correct choice for each question
  • Promote classroom discussion by launching a "teacher-paced" quiz
  • Assess individual students by launching a "student-paced" quiz
  • Color-coded data report can be e-mailed to the teacher immediately after quiz!

The coveted perfect bar graph.

Help!

To Get Started with Socrative, Check Out These Posts:

THANK YOU!